Mrs Meyer's Spring Cleaning Kit

Woo woo! This year instead of their honeysuckle scented spring cleaning kit, Mrs Meyer's has released a Rhubarb scented line. Now, I actually don't think I know what Rhubarb smells like off the top of my head (sweet?), but I like Mrs. Meyer's products and the offerings in the four-pack look good:

All Purpose Cleaner, 8oz
Countertop Spray, 8oz
Window Spray, 8oz
Liquid Dish Soap 8oz

Seems like a little aromatherapy might just make those chores more bearable as the weather warms up. I hope to be able to open the windows and fill my home with fresh air and good smells pretty soon. I just got over being sick and it feels a little stuffy in here.

The only thing I think will wind up languishing in my home is the All Purpose Cleaner. I never seem to get around to using it, because it winds up being best for big cleanings (Dilute 1/4 cup in 1 gallon of water), and I clean in little spurts. I love Mrs. Meyer's surface wipes. Hm, they also have window wipes.

Ooh, I should add that they have products in Basil now! I'm definitely going to have to try that one. They also now have Baby Blossom but I'm not sold on that one yet... I'll have to sniff it in the store.

Whole Foods' New Cleaning Line

Last time I was in Whole Foods (a few weeks ago, and I already have to go back because I'm out of vitamins. Grr!) I noticed that their internal brand, "365" now includes a line of cleaning products! They had what you'd expect- all-purpose spray, bathroom cleaner, mildew spray. The packaging was minimal with clear bottles, and came in a few different scents (I recall lavender?)

Oddly, I don't see anything about the cleaning products online. I wonder if they're testing them locally before officially announcing them. Are they at your Whole Foods?

Naturally Clean products

I noticed a new (to me) line of products in my local natural foods store and in Whole Foods. They go by the name "Naturally Clean" and they've got some intriguing products. The stain eraser promises to erase all sorts of gruesome stains from clothing. I admit it, I got excited thinking it was a safe version of the "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser". I wish someone would make a green version of -that- somehow.

Anyway, the mildew spray is calling my name, as I've started to get allergies in my shower and that means mildew's lurking. The floor cleaner looks pretty good (for my hardwood I just use a tiny bit of water and a tiny bit of vinegar though. Longterm readers know of my love for my Casabella Magnet Mop.)

When I need a new kitchen spray I'll try the kitchen product as well. I wonder if these products will be any different from my standbys. Most of their items claim to work with vegetable enzymes (plus SLS/SLES, our friend "coconut oil surfactant") What do you think?

Method Eucalyptus Mint Flushable Wipes

I was surprised a couple of weeks ago to find Method products at my nearby Whole Foods! Until recently, Whole Foods seemed to take the attitude that Method wasn't natural enough to stock. This particular store's move to carry Method came at a good time; I had just run out of bathroom wipes and was despairing of finding anything at Whole Foods (my closest one stocks Mrs Meyers products in general, but not the disposable wipes.)

I don't know what it is but I seem to keep gravitating towards Method's Eucalyptus Mint Flushable Wipes. In the past I've used them and lamented how soapy they are. They seem to leave a bit of a film on everything. I have to use a really light touch when wiping with them, or I wind up having to go over the area I've just swiped with water. Still, I love that Eucalyptus Mint smell.

So I bought a new pack despite my memories of soapiness, and basically reaffirmed my opinion. I just need to remember not to re-buy these next time; they're just too soggy. There's also something about the way they're seated in my resealable pack that's a bit difficult as well. I pull on the topmost cloth and wind up in a tug of war, finally extracting about 20 sheets. I can never seem to get them back into the pack the way they were either.

Sure, they're flushable, but I'd rather drop them in my trash bin given the chance. I don't want to flush my toilet more than I need to. I think I've made a good environmental calculation there . Sometimes it's a wee hard to tell.

I'm a big fan of disposable wipes for bathroom surfaces (except the mirrors. Microfiber all the way there.) I can clean in little spurts as I see messes appear and avoid dealing with a big job / gross bathroom.

I think in order to get my EM scent fix I may try the new aroma pill instead. It comes in gingerbread spice, sweet water, vanilla apple, grapefruit pear, and, of course, eucalyptus mint.

Twist Loofah Sponge

Ah, the Twist Loofah Sponge. I've actually had a couple of these for months, but I wanted to really decide what I thought before posting about it. Essentially, if you're familiar with loofahs and scrubby sponges you'll get the concept pretty quickly. I've never seen any other product that combines the two though.

I was able to give this a pretty difficult test - our stove seems to build up some serious crust. I scrub as hard as I can, even employing baking soda, and sometimes I can't get the crud off. This sponge actually did a better job than most "heavy duty scrubbers" on this sort of task. I also used a separate one to scrub my bathroom and it made quick work of any grime in there too.

My only real complaint is that I am not a big fan of loofahs in general because they don't actually absorb water well (does anyone know what I mea by this?) They don't soften and occasionally the way they don't bend makes them a bit clunky.

Anyway, of all the Twist sponges, this is my favorite.

Seventh Generation Blue Eucalyptus & Lavender Laundry Detergent

I have said it before, but I absolutely love the new Seventh Generation scents. That blue eucalyptus is really yummy. It makes me feel like my laundry is getting cleaner somehow, which is, I guess, the point. And lavender, mmm I am almost always a fan of lavender. I'd say the lavender definitely takes a backseat in this scent combination, however.

Of course, it can smell like whatever it wants but if it doesn't work? Not going to buy. This is Seventh Gen. we're talking about though. I haven't disliked any of their products yet, functionally speaking. I used to think their scents were boring, but they've updated them to compete with the other non-toxic companies.
Anyway, this stuff really does do a good job on my laundry. I don't have great laundry machines. Actually mine are compact stacked models intended for small apartments. SG has taken care of dog pee and poo messes as well as stains on towels, etc. No complaints, yet. I can't think of anything it's doing wrong or any way in which it is inferior to commercial toxic detergents. The sign of a good laundry detergent is, for me, if I don't have to re-wash anything or really, think more about laundry than necessary.

I guess that makes for a rather boring review :)

Clorox's Eco-friendly cleaning line

Ok, so I'd be a bad green blogger if I didn't mention that Clorox (who recently bought Burts Bees) has released a line of green cleaning products. They're called "Green Works" and the company brags that unlike other eco cleaning products, they work! (Er, if you go through this blog I haven't found many products that don't work fairly well. I'm still marveling over how clean my shower is if I spray it with Seventh Gen every time I use it.)

They have a separate website for the new products here. There is a section specifically and seriously devoted to defining what they mean by their terms "natural" etc, which I appreciate. I was laughing at the description under the bathroom cleaner of, once again, "coconut based cleaning agent". I've mentioned many a time how funny I find it that cleaning companies tiptoe around admitting to using "SLS" and "SLES" for foaming power, because of a sense that these ingredients have been linked to skin irritation and even cancer (provable or not, there is a green consumer bias against these ingredients as well as parabens, etc.)

I don't know. I like lemon essential oil (used in most of these), but I'm not swayed. These're not as cool sounding as some of the products I already use. Plus, Clorox is not generally a company I want to support. Aside from making generally non-eco friendly products, they still test on animals!
I'd rather people buy these than most mainstream cleaning products, but I'd also rather people support some of the brands linked to the right in this blog than Clorox.

I learned about this because Natural Health magazine gave the line a mention in their last issue.